Soo...staffing companies. Yea or Nay?

[dderidex]

As mentioned in several threads now, I'm currently looking for an IT job in Oregon.

HOWEVER...some 60 resumes later, I've heard nothing back from any company in the Portland area EXCEPT staffing companies! Who seem perfectly interested in calling me back.

What's the word on the street with them? Good idea or bad?

 

[mzkhadir]

I worked for them before. Some are good and some are bad. Depends on which company you choose and the benefits they give you.

 

[dderidex]

Originally posted by: mzkhadir
I worked for them before. Some are good and some are bad. Depends on which company you choose and the benefits they give you.

What kind of experience was it? As far as benefits go, that's pretty much not an issue - I'm paying into an IRA on my own, and we are both on my wife's insurance. I just like decent pay and a reasonable amount of vacation time.

How was stopping working with them to find another job? A lot of the staffing companies I'd seen in the past prohibit you from working for any company you did work for while employed by them for a period of several years after quitting....after a very short time doing such work, that'd exclude nearly every company in the area.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Have you used some of the leads in the Networking thread?

Staffing companies can be a decent place to start from. Can allow you to get your foot in the door and make connections with other people in the area.

 

[mzkhadir]

Originally posted by: dderidex

Originally posted by: mzkhadir
I worked for them before. Some are good and some are bad. Depends on which company you choose and the benefits they give you.

What kind of experience was it? As far as benefits go, that's pretty much not an issue - I'm paying into an IRA on my own, and we are both on my wife's insurance. I just like decent pay and a reasonable amount of vacation time.

How was stopping working with them to find another job? A lot of the staffing companies I'd seen in the past prohibit you from working for any company you did work for while employed by them for a period of several years after quitting....after a very short time doing such work, that'd exclude nearly every company in the area.

The companies that I worked for basically told me that I cannot work for the same company or switch to the client if they offered me a job. Pay was decent, you won't get vacation time but if you work like 3000 hrs of something like that you get so many days off or something. Stopping work for them was no problem, I just gave them couple of weeks notice before I switched.

 

[dderidex]

It was less that 'stopping working for them' and more the 'finding another company you'd be ALLOWED to work for *after* working for them for any amount of time' that's the issue.

How regular is the pay, too? Is it, like, 3 months on a job then 2 or 3 months waiting for some other assignment to come along? Or, do they keep you fairly busy? (I'm guessing they do not pay you in the 'off' time)

 

[mzkhadir]

Originally posted by: dderidex
It was less that 'stopping working for them' and more the 'finding another company you'd be ALLOWED to work for *after* working for them for any amount of time' that's the issue.

How regular is the pay, too? Is it, like, 3 months on a job then 2 or 3 months waiting for some other assignment to come along? Or, do they keep you fairly busy? (I'm guessing they do not pay you in the 'off' time)

For me it was like a 6 month contract and then off a month and then on again. In the off period you should start looking for another position. You do not get paid for the off time.

In which industry are you trying to get into ?

 

[dderidex]

Originally posted by: mzkhadir

Originally posted by: dderidex
It was less that 'stopping working for them' and more the 'finding another company you'd be ALLOWED to work for *after* working for them for any amount of time' that's the issue.

How regular is the pay, too? Is it, like, 3 months on a job then 2 or 3 months waiting for some other assignment to come along? Or, do they keep you fairly busy? (I'm guessing they do not pay you in the 'off' time)

For me it was like a 6 month contract and then off a month and then on again. In the off period you should start looking for another position. You do not get paid for the off time.

In which industry are you trying to get into ?

'Industry' is largely irrelevant - I'm looking for IT work. I have an Asc. Degree in Client-Server programming - but that's been used for little more than troubleshooting in real work experience - and 7 years extensive experience with SQL, Crystal Reports, and technical documentation.

So, I'm looking for an Intermediate to Senior Level database administrator position, Senior Level tech support position, or Entry Level software development position (Visual Studio 6.0/.Net or Java).

If I do get another position, I'd ultimately like (some day, hopefully soon) to move into a software development position - that's really what I'd like to do, anyway, but I have the feeling I'll need to finish a BS to really get a shot a it somewhere. So...doing other work until then is fine. (Still, at 26, I don't want to put it off TOO much longer)